Dye-set for improved color quality for ink-jet printers

Abstract

A set of dyes is provided for use in vehicles employing about 5 to 11% of glycols and/or glycol ethers and the balance water. The dye-set comprises about 2 to 3% of hydrolyzed-Reactive Red 180, about 0.3 to 1% Acid Red 52, with the ratio of hydrolyzed-RR180:AR52 ranging from about 2:1 to 5:1, about 1.75 to 2.75% of Acid Yellow 23, and about 1.75 to 2.5% of Acid Blue 9. The particular dye-set provides bright, saturated colors for ink-jet application for not only special coated paper, but also "plain" office papers and transparencies.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. An ink-jet ink-set comprising magenta ink, yellow ink, and cyan ink for use with ink-jet printers, each ink comprising a vehicle and at least one dye: (a) said vehicle containing about 5 to 11 wt % of at least one member selected from the group consisting of glycols and glycol ethers and the balance water;   (b) said magenta ink consisting essentially of about 2 to 3 wt % of hydrolyzed-Reactive Red 180 dye and about 0.3 to 1 wt % of Acid Red 52 dye;   (c) said yellow ink consisting essentially of about 1.75 to 2.75 wt % of Acid Yellow 23 dye; and   (d) said cyan ink consisting essentially of about 1.75 to 2.5 wt % of Acid Blue 9 dye.   
     
     
       2. The ink-set of claim 1 wherein said mixture of hydrolyzed-Reactive Red 180 and Acid Red 52 dyes ranges in ratio from about 2:1 to 5:1 of hydrolyzed-RRl80:AR52. 
     
     
       3. The ink-set of claim 2 wherein said ratio is about 4:1 and the concentration of said hydrolyzed-Reactive Red 180 dye is about 2.2 wt % and the concentration of said Acid Red 52 dye is about 0.6 wt %. 
     
     
       4. The ink-set of claim 1 wherein the concentration of said Acid Yellow dye is about 2 wt %. 
     
     
       5. The ink-set of claim 1 wherein the concentration of said Acid Blue 9 dye is about 2 wt %. 
     
     
       6. The ink-set of claim 1 further including about 0.1 to 1 wt % of a surfactant and about 0.1 to 0.4 wt % of a biocide. 
     
     
       7. The ink-set of claim 6 wherein said glycol is selected from the group consisting of diethylene glycol and dipropylene glycol and said glycol ether is selected from the group consisting of 2-(2-butoxyethoxy)ethanol and triethylene glycol butyl ether. 
     
     
       8. The ink-set of claim 7 wherein said vehicle consists essentially of about 8 wt % of 2-(2-butoxyethoxy)ethanol, about 0.3 wt % of said biocide, and the balance water. 
     
     
       9. An improved ink-jet dye-set for ink-jet printing including (a) a mixture of hydrolyzed-Reactive Red 180 and Acid Red 52 dyes and (b) Acid Yellow 23 dye. 
     
     
       10. The dye-set of claim 9 wherein said mixture of hydrolyzed-Reactive Red 180 and Acid Red 52 dyes ranges in a ratio from about 2:1 to 5:1 of hydrolyzed-RRl80:AR52. 
     
     
       11. The dye-set of claim 10 wherein said ratio is about 4:1.